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Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters
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Sixteen-year-old Ariadne’s whole life is curated and shared with the world. Her royal family’s entertainment empire is beloved by the tabloids, all over social media, and the hottest thing on television. The biggest moneymaker? The Labyrinth Contest, a TV extravaganza in which Ariadne leads fourteen teens into a maze to kill a monster. To win means endless glory; to lose m
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Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
October 22nd 2019
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
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Start your review of Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters

An interesting concept of combining reality tv and 'famous for being famous' culture and one of the most popular myths in Greek mythology. Entertaining, although a bit irreverent at times (as you would expect from the premise). I always had mixed feelings about Ariadne, but here the protagonist is very likeable and I really enjoyed looking at her as a rebellious teenager who wants to find her own way in life.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the review copy provided in exc ...more
Thank you to Edelweiss and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the review copy provided in exc ...more

This was a disaster.
Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters had so much potential. A retelling of Greek myths and heroes set in the modern world with a reality TV and Hunger Games-esque twist? What a cool concept! There were a lot of interesting ideas and themes that were presented, especially in relation to the culture of reality TV. However, the execution was awful and this was absolutely the worst book I've read in 2020 so far.
I don't even know where to begin. The horrible insta-love? The "I'm not li ...more
Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters had so much potential. A retelling of Greek myths and heroes set in the modern world with a reality TV and Hunger Games-esque twist? What a cool concept! There were a lot of interesting ideas and themes that were presented, especially in relation to the culture of reality TV. However, the execution was awful and this was absolutely the worst book I've read in 2020 so far.
I don't even know where to begin. The horrible insta-love? The "I'm not li ...more

Aug 09, 2019
- ̗̀ DANY ̖́- (danyreads)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2019-reads,
arc
. : ☾⋆ — 3 ★
READ THIS REVIEW ON MY BLOG!!!
https://bit.ly/2KphrbA
ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Macmillan!!)
you simply HAVE to give Emily Roberson extra kudos for originality. never in a million years would I have been smart enough to come up with a concept that takes an ancient greek myth, reality TV like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and The Hunger Games and blends them in such a dark and seamless way. I was a HUGE f ...more
READ THIS REVIEW ON MY BLOG!!!
https://bit.ly/2KphrbA
ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Macmillan!!)
you simply HAVE to give Emily Roberson extra kudos for originality. never in a million years would I have been smart enough to come up with a concept that takes an ancient greek myth, reality TV like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and The Hunger Games and blends them in such a dark and seamless way. I was a HUGE f ...more

Yikes, this book is a lot and I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it. I came close to DNF'ing, but it is a pretty quick read so I decided to see it through. I love the concept behind Lifestyles of God's and Monsters, but the execution....had a lot more issues. I am particularly uncomfortable with the handling of certain things given that this is a YA book, and we will dig into that.
This is being pitched as Greek Mythology meets The Kardashians, and in a lot of ways that is quite accurate. I ...more

This was a pretty awesome story! And I actually didn’t know this particular Greek mythology tale so it was nice to be able to read something new on that!
The whole social media thing, along with the Greek stuff, was pretty interesting! It just goes to show how bad social media can be. I do use social media a lot, but I actually prefer the world without it.
I absolutely loved Theseus and Ariadne! They had wonderful chemistry and worked great together as a team. My one con is that in the beginning i ...more
The whole social media thing, along with the Greek stuff, was pretty interesting! It just goes to show how bad social media can be. I do use social media a lot, but I actually prefer the world without it.
I absolutely loved Theseus and Ariadne! They had wonderful chemistry and worked great together as a team. My one con is that in the beginning i ...more

2.75/5 stars.
It seems like this month I've read books that were worthy of either 4/5 stars or 1/2, this book's rating destiny was the latter.
I'm going to be frank, I like Greek mythology, most of the stories are very fascinating and I'm always open to learn more about them, but because I have very little knowledge of every one of them I had no idea what this one's true story was going to be, and honestly I've never heard of it before in my life.
The concept of the story was overall very interesti ...more
It seems like this month I've read books that were worthy of either 4/5 stars or 1/2, this book's rating destiny was the latter.
I'm going to be frank, I like Greek mythology, most of the stories are very fascinating and I'm always open to learn more about them, but because I have very little knowledge of every one of them I had no idea what this one's true story was going to be, and honestly I've never heard of it before in my life.
The concept of the story was overall very interesti ...more

this book is bizarre yet strangely entertaining?
it’s basically a greek myth version of keeping up with the kardashians & the hunger games so yeah: bizarre
the writing is very reminiscent of 2000s YA and you can definitely tell it’s a debut novel but I was still flying through this.
there are themes about growing up in a reality show and the inner workings of fame. it’s exploitive, sexual, & exactly what you expect in the production of real housewives.
the theme of how mortals blame the gods for ...more
it’s basically a greek myth version of keeping up with the kardashians & the hunger games so yeah: bizarre
the writing is very reminiscent of 2000s YA and you can definitely tell it’s a debut novel but I was still flying through this.
there are themes about growing up in a reality show and the inner workings of fame. it’s exploitive, sexual, & exactly what you expect in the production of real housewives.
the theme of how mortals blame the gods for ...more

Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by Nathalie DeFelice
I finished this story a week and a half ago, and I’m just now finding the words to describe the absolute delight of a story this was to read. It’s been a long time since I last read a retelling of a Greek myth, and I was blown away by how Emily Roberson was able to create this hybrid world of a Kardashian-esque royal family while still observing the rules of the Gods. There are elements of this story that caused me to think of t ...more
I finished this story a week and a half ago, and I’m just now finding the words to describe the absolute delight of a story this was to read. It’s been a long time since I last read a retelling of a Greek myth, and I was blown away by how Emily Roberson was able to create this hybrid world of a Kardashian-esque royal family while still observing the rules of the Gods. There are elements of this story that caused me to think of t ...more

Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters is a retelling of the Greek minotaur and Labyrinth... but modern and mixed with the Kardashians. Ariadne's entire family is in the entertainment spotlight, from social media to tabloids but their biggest money maker is the labyrinth contest- a reality tv show where Ariadne leads fourteen teenagers into the maze to try to kill a monster. To win is money and fame but to lose is death. When Theseus arrives to defeat the monster, he asks Adriadne for help. She didn't
...more

My god was this a bore to get through. Not only was the writing godawful (like what the fuck was the editor thinking?), the plot pointless (the "conflict" was resolved in like 2 seconds), the characters flat and 2 dimensional and the romance to be the most insta-lovey, try-hard, cringy thing ever.
Honestly, I expected to love this book. A modern spin on Greek mythologies and characters? Sign me up! Until I realize how tedious the writing is-- written like a skewed twitter thread that's outrageous ...more
Honestly, I expected to love this book. A modern spin on Greek mythologies and characters? Sign me up! Until I realize how tedious the writing is-- written like a skewed twitter thread that's outrageous ...more

Many thanks to Farrar, Straus, and Grioux/Macmillan for sending me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review..
The premise of this book is so unique, crazy, and completely amazing. I mean, Greek mythology and reality TV are usually not two things that people associate or think of together, but that’s exactly what this book was, and it was so fun to read about.
It was cool and fun to see the ancient Greek world depicted in a social media, entertainment obsessed world similar to our own. I loved ...more
The premise of this book is so unique, crazy, and completely amazing. I mean, Greek mythology and reality TV are usually not two things that people associate or think of together, but that’s exactly what this book was, and it was so fun to read about.
It was cool and fun to see the ancient Greek world depicted in a social media, entertainment obsessed world similar to our own. I loved ...more

CW: death, slight gore, momagers, reality TV, dubious consent, and sexism
Honestly, I don't know how to tackle a review for this book.
It involves a retelling of the Minotaur myth. Aka, the queen who had sex with a bull that her husband, the king, refused to sacrifice and wound up having a half-bull/half-human baby that they lock up into a labyrinth and get young Athenians to try to kill it.
But, take that story and make it modern. Make it from the Minotaur's sister's perspective, Ariadne. Add in h ...more
Honestly, I don't know how to tackle a review for this book.
It involves a retelling of the Minotaur myth. Aka, the queen who had sex with a bull that her husband, the king, refused to sacrifice and wound up having a half-bull/half-human baby that they lock up into a labyrinth and get young Athenians to try to kill it.
But, take that story and make it modern. Make it from the Minotaur's sister's perspective, Ariadne. Add in h ...more

Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters by Emily Roberson is a unique YA retelling of the Greek mythology tale of Ariadne, Theseus, the Minotaur, and the Labyrinth. I've seen quite a few middling reviews for this, but luckily it really worked for me. I loved the author's writing style and how she brought Greek mythology into a modern world that's not all that different from ours. I wasn't sure quite sure what to make of the present day technology and elements like smartphones, social media, paparazzi, a
...more

So I loved this. It's a bizzarre mix of greek mythology, the hunger games and reality tv, and it worked.
The story and pretty much all of the characters were messed up in one way or another, but hey, that's greek mythology. I still felt for them & even got emotional and cried at certain points in the story. Couldn't put it down.
This might not be a book for everyone, but it was definitely for me. ...more
The story and pretty much all of the characters were messed up in one way or another, but hey, that's greek mythology. I still felt for them & even got emotional and cried at certain points in the story. Couldn't put it down.
This might not be a book for everyone, but it was definitely for me. ...more

Oct 24, 2019
Sara (A Gingerly Review)
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2019,
audio-book-2019
I love Greek mythology so this story hit a spot with me. I could not get enough. Brilliant concept.

Un roman sympathique pour l'ambiance télé-réalité et l'univers de réécriture des mythes, malgré quelques éléments un peu tirés par les cheveux ou clichés ...
...more

The premise of this book stood out to me for a while - the Kardashian's meets Mythology! But also has a Hunger Games vibe... it was really cool. I regret waiting so long to read this, but I haven't been in a fantasy mood as of late and this just didn't interest me, but this had just the right amount of contemporary vibes to get me interested. That, and I LOVE mythology.
This was really interesting and I'm glad I finally got to it! ...more
This was really interesting and I'm glad I finally got to it! ...more

Oooooh I REALLY liked this one. The blend of classical myths/allusions vs. modern technology and the reality TV premise worked SO well. (For context, I don't really watch reality shows so I think this book can definitely be enjoyed whatever your experience with them.)
Despite the fun premise, there's also a deceptive amount of depth and darkness here, such as in Ariadne as she grows to realize her own part in what is happening and as she is forced to re-evaluate her opinion on her "shallow" siste ...more
Despite the fun premise, there's also a deceptive amount of depth and darkness here, such as in Ariadne as she grows to realize her own part in what is happening and as she is forced to re-evaluate her opinion on her "shallow" siste ...more

This is an astoundingly clever mash-up of Greek mythology, celebrity culture (think 'Keeping Up with The Kardashians'), and the Hunger Games; altogether the story of Ariadne and Theseus is told, where the gods are under the lens 24/7 just like Khloe and Kim, and ratings are always king. The monster is the Minotaur, Ariadne's brother, a tragic character, who is supposed to be killed by whoever solves the maze. Ariadne is caught between helping her new-found love or helping her family, with everyt
...more

Look at this cover and read that premise. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters created a great twist on the original Greek Myth by creating a retelling revolving around reality TV. It could have been amazing if the author didn't make the one mistake many YA authors make - include a romance. I wouldn't have minded a fast instalove like this if there was an interesting twist with that romance. In the original, Theseus ends up being a jerk. I think a play on that would have f
...more

Dec 19, 2018
Kate (Feathered Turtle Press)
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2019
I KNOW they wrangle buzzwords and key phrases to sell these things, but this genuinely sounds like "this is about uhhh *spins wheel*--"
...more

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
*Thank you so much to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Fierce Reads for the opportunity to read LIFE STYLES OF GODS AND MONSTERS!*
I love Greek Mythology retellings, so a modern day retelling of the Minotaur myth? Sign me up! Now lets add in reality TV and fight to the deaths and its basically a kick ass book. This book is basically: Keeping Up With The Kardashians + Greek Mythology + The Hunger Games = Lifestyle of Gods and Monsters. Lifesty ...more
*Thank you so much to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Fierce Reads for the opportunity to read LIFE STYLES OF GODS AND MONSTERS!*
I love Greek Mythology retellings, so a modern day retelling of the Minotaur myth? Sign me up! Now lets add in reality TV and fight to the deaths and its basically a kick ass book. This book is basically: Keeping Up With The Kardashians + Greek Mythology + The Hunger Games = Lifestyle of Gods and Monsters. Lifesty ...more

As penance for the murder of King Minos' eldest son, 14 of Athen's best and beautiful citizens must be sent to compete in the reality show, The Labyrinth Contest, where they would run the maze and attempt to conquer the Minotaur. After, 10 seasons, and lagging ratings, the newly claimed Athenian prince, Theseus, wanted to face the Minotaur in an effort to save his people, but he couldn't do it without the help of the Cretan princess, Ariadne. Would the princess choose her family, or would she ch
...more

Aaaaaa such a dumb great read!
Social media giants meet Greek gods meet Hunger Games. YA romance with these qualities - delightful. It doesn't matter that the storytelling is a bit clumsy - (view spoiler) it still entertains as any great reality series.
Takes surprisingly dark turns.
Any Hades game fans, give it a go!
P.S. I effing love the queen. ...more
Social media giants meet Greek gods meet Hunger Games. YA romance with these qualities - delightful. It doesn't matter that the storytelling is a bit clumsy - (view spoiler) it still entertains as any great reality series.
Takes surprisingly dark turns.
Any Hades game fans, give it a go!
P.S. I effing love the queen. ...more

I finally remembered to review this! I enjoyed it. It was Greek mythology with reality tv and cell phones and it was just really interesting all around around. I'll keep a look out for more from Roberson.
...more
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ARTBA 2020: Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters | 1 | 10 | May 26, 2020 12:31PM |
Emily Roberson has been a bookseller in Little Rock, a newspaper reporter in Vicksburg, a marketing manager in Boston, and a writer in Chapel Hill and Dallas. She is an Arkansas native who graduated from Brown University and has a masters in English from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Arkansas with her husband and three sons.
Emily's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Em ...more
Emily's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Em ...more
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